This article is part of the Guardian's World Cup 2014 Experts' Network, a co-operation between 32 of the best media organisations from the countries who have qualified for the finals in Brazil. theguardian.com is running previews from four countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 12 June.

He always steps on to the field with his right foot, wearing his long sleeved shirt. He hops three times and greets rivals and referees. Gerard Piqué was born a lucky guy, a footballer who watches life from his 6ft 4ins and claims, without blushing, that he always got what he wished for.

Even what he never thought of. Piqué is a an intuitive being, charged with positive energy and very close to his roots, those of his father who was born in Sant Guim de Freixenet —a town with a thousand inhabitants placed in a small province in Lleida—, and gifted with great intelligence, maybe passed down from his mother, a reputed neurosurgeon.

Piqué is a multifaceted person, a footballer-genius with an IQ of 140, a person who always speaks his mind and that, sometimes, bothers others.

One day, he fell in love with a woman who was born on the same day as him but 10 years before, and who turned out to be one of the most influential singers in the music world. Shakira may not have known who he was, but she does now, and is the mother of his child.

As a player, Gerard, called 'Geri' by his friends from the La Salle Bonanova high school in Barcelona, was also talented. He is a centre-back with a striker's soul, a defender with anticipation and enough technique, a footballer who can dismantle the opposition's star forward and, moreover, score goals like that one with Pep Guardiola's Barcelona in the memorable 6-2 win against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.

We know Piqué is football's King Midas. Everything he touches is transformed into gold, which is a bit scary. He thought about being a Barcelona football player when he was 10 and he got it, while his grandfather was a member of the club board. At La Masía, the Barça academy for youngsters, he was part of the best under-16s side in the club's history along with Lionel Messi and Cesc Fábregas. They met again years later in the best Barcelona side ever.

When he emigrated to Manchester at the age of 17, Sir Alex Ferguson mentored his career; on his return to Barcelona he met Guardiola and they did not stop celebrating titles, a wave of victories that took him to the Spanish national team and victories at the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 European Championship.

Piqué met Messi when they were young and again as an adult. He met Cristiano Ronaldo while he was at Manchester United. Ferguson, Guardiola, Messi and Ronaldo form a virtuous circle that shows everything Piqué represents in football. Can anyone even match it?

However, Piqué is not interested in looking back, but ahead. "If you feel happy, everything is easier", he repeats as he opens his big blue eyes to every morning, searching for new motivations.

That is what he did when he decided to enter the world of poker. In Manchester, Piqué had already beaten some veterans at friendly games, but he wanted to prove himself in front of serious players. Disguised with sunglasses, a cap and gigantic headphones, he attended a European Poker Tour tournament and added £40,000 to his bank account. Last summer he successfully took part in the World Series (WSOP).

Or when he was offered to be the image of a famous international fashion brand and he he took to the catwalk instantly, rising above the professionals. Or when he thought about investing in a video games company and created goldenmanager.com, a successful virtual simulator to manage your own football club.

At 27, Piqué has the world in his hands, he is pure talent from head to toe. He has arguably been the most dominant centre-back in Barcelona's modern history and, after a hard season, the World Cup is his next aim. There, he is gathering with Sergio Ramos, who is his perfect partner in defence despite having nothing in common with him off the pitch.

Not so long ago, he exchanged ironic opinions on Twitter with Ramos and other Real Madrid players. Do not forget Piqué always speaks forthrightly, no matter who is bothered by it.

He misses José Mourinho in the Spanish League ("Listening to him and watching how he acts after matches is funny when you don't suffer him as a rival", he says), admits his relationship with Guardiola ("the number one") was stormy and misses Tito Vilanova, the late coach who taught him to fight each and every minute of his life.

Piqué knows he can rise above antipathy. He is an ambitious guy and while his life is still full of playing football, he has a project in mind for later in life, a dream he has had since he became a Barcelona member as a boy: to be the president of the club. Until now, he has always got what he wanted.